The Evolution of Civil Rights: Stonewall riots of 1969 - Research Paper Example

The Evolution of Civil Rights: Stonewall riots of 1969 Introduction: Concept of human rights is somewhat unique and varies in different cultures. It carries different meaning for different people and its constituents have changed over time. But most common definition of human rights is that everyone should be treated equally with respect for inherent dignity and human worth should be maintained1 Civil rights are much distinct to human rights as they comprise of the rights invoked by the virtue of citizenship. It is a tool that limits the government from imposing policies that are against certain groups or provide harm to any individual in any form. It protects an individual from discrimination and injustice from the government and society. Through history we can derive conclusion that many groups had to fight for their civil rights. This is because our society do not approve of remodeling readily. Whenever elements have emerged that are against the norms of the society there have been conflicts. As asked by Kinsman Gary “Are we betraying our roots? Are we fighting for the society we envision through this struggle?”2 The struggle here is nothing but of gay rights. Either the former gives up or the society has to finally do an amendment to embrace the change. Most the time, those seeking their amended position in the society are not the majority. Therefore, much struggle and sacrifice is required to modify the thinking of those opposing the change. No government in the world is directly against the civil rights or purposely discriminates on any backgrounds. The US declaration of independence clearly states that all human beings are born equal with equal rights “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 3Though, we are all human beings there is much distinct and unique about each of us. The main hiccup in coming up with a definitive human or civil right act is the fact that we evolve all the time. So when a group of individuals evolve different from the others they are normally sidelined in the society and their rights are jeopardized. Such scenario is evident in the case of Gay rights and their evolution in the US society. The incidence of Stonewall inn is what considered being the turning point in the long quest of Gays in acquiring their rightful status in American society. David carter puts the Stonewall riots as "Ongoing struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality"4. Stonewell Inn is considered to be a historical international gay landmark where gays rioted against police in June 1969. This served as the catalyst for the modern gay liberation movement. The history: There is little surprise that the concept of same sex relationship was not welcomed in the US society before the liberation of the gay rights. This was not only against the norm of the society but it was in contrast to the culture that persisted over centuries. Many could not digest the fact that homosexuality can exist as an entity. Therefore, it could be argued that homosexuality existed even before it actually emerged on the horizon. Many were simply too shy or conservative to express how they felt. Although the development of gay culture can have some ancient traces, most of its revelation and corresponding discrimination took place in between 1920 and 1950. “Antigay discrimination is popularly thought to have ancient roots; in fact it is a unique and relatively short lived product of the twentieth century”5. The confused state mind of the earliest homosexual groups is quiet understandable and rather predictable. Something that is was not ever seen practiced before is hard to accept even for those who are directly affected by it. So the US government and society was very conservative in regard to this mutation that evolved in front of them. The Stonewell inn riot was not the first time Gay community protested against their discrimination in the society. Actually there are several other events that also highlight the desires of the Gay community to be accepted on the equal grounds. A similar incidence took place in San Francisco on January 1, 1965, on the New Year day, when hemophilic groups organized a costume ball party as a fund raiser for the Council on Regional and the Homosexual. Despite the fact that police was informed of the event a conflict raised when they tried to enter the building without the search warrant. This episode just stirred the San Francisco Homophile movement6. Although this incident was a bit similar to that of stonewall Inn it failed to produce the same effect. The Black Cat raid in January 1967 is another chain of similar incidence but like San Francisco, the movement in its response was not successful or had a significant impact. Sparking the Gay Revolution: Through the years from 1940 to1950, the gay subculture began to permeate deeper into American societal structure and continued to strengthen its determination in an effort to achieve its rights. The series of spontaneous violent demonstrations that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in true essence, sparked the gay revolution. The Stonewall Inn was located at the Christopher Street in Greenwich Village in New York’s Lower Manhattan district and was a small unlicensed gay bar. The New York’s gays, lesbians and drag queens have had enough of the repression inflicted upon them by the police and this intimidation was what fueled the progression of riots that took place when an unanticipated police squad made a routine raid at the Stonewall Inn at 1.00 am on Saturday, 28th June. The patrons inside the bar were bottled up by the police and loaded inside their paddy wagons. The actual riot was initiated by a lesbian who threw a punch at the police. The struggle she commenced with the police was heavily supported by other individuals inside the bar. The scenario soon became violent when the onlookers launched coins, bricks, bottles and abuses at the police. The squad called for reinforcements and retreated into the bar. The Tactical Patrol Force rescued the squad from the bar and the ensuing fracas lasted for almost two hours and ended in sixteen arrests. The bar was completely trashed, fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Headlines pertaining to the riots committed by previously intimidated gay and lesbian community appeared in the next day newspaper. The following words were published in the New York Times: “Hundreds of young men went on rampage in Greenwich Village shortly after 3 A.M., yesterday after a force of plainclothes men raided a bar that was well known for its homosexual clientele... The young men threw bricks, bottles, garbage, pennies and a parking meter at the policemen, who had a search warrant authorizing them to investigate reports that liquor was sold illegally at the bar...”7 The New Yorkers were titillated by the magnitude of gay power assertion exhibited at the Stonewall Inn even though they were accustomed to the liberation politics that had permeated public consciousness since the early 1960s. That night an even larger crowd gathered in Christopher Street to face the well equipped police raid squad as the riots had alerted a wider gay community especially the political activists. Despite the fact that the police were well equipped, they were not able to disperse the violent gay community and riots lasted for almost two days. The crowd consisting of gays, lesbians and drag queens adopted a high camp behavior and refused to obey the embattled police. The crowd formed a chorus line in front of the police and chanted: “I am a faggot and I am proud of it!”, “Gay Power, I love boys”. The aggression and determination of the gay community at Stonewall Inn reflected the fact that gay politics had finally begun.8 The Gay Liberation Front: A Gay Manifesto, Carl Wittman, stated the following lines soon after the Stonewall Inn riots ended: “And we are euphoric, high, with the initial flourish of a movement”.9 The Gay Liberation politics initiated by the series of events at the Stonewall Inn led to the formation of Gay Liberation Front on 31st July, 1969. The Gay Liberation Front was the first gay grouping that discarded the prevalent gradualist approach and adopted a revolutionary behavior to liberate sexuality. The Gay Liberation Front was determined to throw off the shackles imposed by the society and overcome societal stigmatization surrounding the gay community. 10 The Gay Liberation Front was established with the aim of terminating the possibility of the enactment of anti gay government laws such as the one passed in 1885 which had labeled homosexual men as criminals. The Gay Liberation Front adopted the term “gay” as the title for homosexual men, previously the term was used for prostitutes in the mid nineteenth century. During the early years of its establishment the articulate minority of the Gay Liberation Front consisted largely of middle class homosexuals. Before GLF was established, the homosexuals had recently been decriminalized. Therefore, GLF concentrated souly to encourage young homosexuals to indulge in open and proud demonstration of male homosexuality. The GLF conducted numerous formal meetings till the year 1972 during which it was dispersed and the dispersion was mediated due to the surfacing of differences between gays and lesbians. 11 Post GLF Gay Activism: Gay activism continued robustly even after the dispersion of Gay Liberation front. The Gay News began its publication in 1972 however the publication came to an unexpected halt in 1983. The gay community faced obstacles in unifying in an effort to fight for a common cause because of conflicts arising from within the homosexuals. Many gays considered that living openly as homosexuals should be the major aim of the community, while others considered the elimination of gay oppression was more crucial for their survival.12 The Gay Youth was a popular homosexual grouping in New York. The grouping was established in February 1970. Primarily, the objective of Gay Youth was to provide a social and political outlet for adolescent homosexuals who were the main targets of societal stigmatization and repression. Gay Youth functioned under the leadership of Mark Segal and was famously titled by many as a grouping which was an “autonomous organization founded, run, and organized exclusively by youth”. (Cohen 2008). Gay Youth published numerous publications in an effort to revive the courage and determination of young homosexuals. The Gay Movement News was published by GY’s popular Gay Journal. Furthermore, GY published regularly published numerous social announcements and discussions on sexuality in an attempt to provoke young homosexuals.13 The general meetings of the gay groupings were carefully drafted and consciousness rising was particularly in cooperated. The meetings provided an opportunity for young individuals to understand gay behavior in context with social and political parameters. The greatness of GY lies in the fact that it was the first grouping which is credited with the conduction of outreach programs in high schools in order to unite the gay community and to shackle off the territorial boundaries. Soon after the dissolution of GLF, GY took the initiative and responded by reinventing and wending itself to follow a peripatetic path. The GY exhibited extraordinary longevity which greatly exceeded what is expected from a gay liberation era group. The grouping reigned gay community for nearly two decades.14 S.T.A.R and School Bases Liberation Groups: The Street Transvetite Action Revolutionaries was one of the most popular gay groupings predominantly because of their tremendous contributions in accelerating the progression of gay movement. The grouping is credited with the promotion of free gender expression, and fueling an end to prison injustice and homelessness. S.T.A.R was the first gay grouping which succeeded in the establishment of an inclusive community which did not acknowledge the binding definitions of gender and sexual identity. The tremendous popularity of S.T.A.R had stemmed from the fact that they provided refuge, peer support, and a platform to young hopeless street transvestites. On the other hand, School based gay liberation groups provoked young high school gays to stand up and fight for their rights. The major purpose the gay groupings served was to strengthen and unify the gay community to achieve a common objective: the provision of human rights that the gay community deserved. 15 Discussion: This example of gay liberation highlights an important aspect of our community and government policies. As discussed earlier, those with homosexual orientation had to struggle a lot for their own rights. This is not because their views or concept of same sex relationships was bizarre or impractical. If it was the case their rights would have still been denied. But the problem lies within our society who delays accepting these changes during human evolution. Similarly, government failed to provide the protection to those discriminated in the hands of the society. And here the society in question is that known to be the forefront of implicating human and civil rights. Which mean if that society and the government can initially fail to understand the sentiments and values of certain believes it can be assumed that there might be other places where people are struggling to obtain their rights in their respective society. The evolution of civil rights in US is not the first of their kind. Mahatma Gandhi also pioneered one movement in the Indian subcontinent that was aimed to liberate the civil rights of his people. He was determined to achieve the state of equality by non violence movements16. So, there have been similar movements in the past in different parts of the world. Therefore, the chances that there will be more in the coming times cannot be ruled out completely. It is the responsibility of the government and the society to have a flexible approach to those with contrasting views and give them equal rights without creating a havoc of situation. Conclusion: From the walk through this historical review certain things can be concluded. The riots in the Stonewall Inn opened to clogged emotions of homosexuals around the globe. The event marked a new beginning in the chapter of gay’s history. Although, many other similar incidents before Stonewall riots had produced some ripples describing the emotions of gay community, the glory and distinct place of Stonewall in catalyzing the gay liberation movement cannot be matched. Reference: Andryszewski, Tricia. Gay Rights. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty-First Century Books, 2000. Internet resource. Armstrong, Elizabeth A., and Suzanna M.. Crage. "Movements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth." American Sociological Review Vol. 71 Issue 5, Oct 2006: 724-751. Carter, David. "Stonewall Stories. Issue 1027/1028 ." Advocate, Jun/Jul 2009: 94-99. Chauncey, George. Why Marriage?: The History Shaping Today's Debate Over Gay Equality. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Print. Clapham, Andrew. 2007. Human rights: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cohen, Stephan L. 2008. The gay liberation youth movement in New York: "an army of lovers cannot fail". New York: Routledge. Fathers, Founding. "The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription. National Archives." http://www.archives.gov. July 4, 1776. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/print_friendly.html?page=declaration_transcript... (accessed February 12, 2012 ). Fathers, The Founding. "The Bill of Rights: A Transcription. National Archives." www.archives.gov. March 4, 1789. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/print_friendly.html?page=bill_of_rights_transcri... (accessed February 12, 2012). Ghandi, Mahatma. Ghandi: An Autobiography. Boston: Beacon Press, 1957. Hudson, Mike. "Where Did We Begin?" Advocate Issue 936, Apr 12, 2005: 15. Jay, Karla, and Allen Young. 1972. Out of the closets: voices of gay liberation. New York: Douglas Book Corporation. King, Martin Luther. "I Have a Dream ." American Rhetoric. Washington, August 28, 1963. Kinsman, Gary. "Queer Liberation." Canadian Dimension Vol. 44 Issue 4, Jul/Aug 2010: 19-22. Kuhn, Betsy. 2011. Gay power!: the Stonewall Riots and the gay rights movement, 1969. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books. Moore, Clive. 2001. Sunshine and rainbows: the development of gay and lesbian culture in Queensland. St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, in assocation with the API Network. Riches, William Terence Martin. 1997. The civil rights movement: struggle and resistance. New York: St. Martin's Press. Wandor, Michelene, and Michelene Wandor. 1986. Carry on, understudies: theatre and sexual politics. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Read More